Phytolith records of the climate change since the past 15000 years in the middle reach of the Yangtze River in China

Based on 14C dating and core sediments survey, phytolith records are employed to reconstruct paleovegetation and paleoclimate in the Jianghan Plain in the middle reach of the Yangtze River. Phytoliths identified are assigned into 21 well-described morphotypes and divided into four groups （Poaceae, fern, coniferous and broad-leaved）. The phytolith assemblages together with warmth index （Iw） are divided into 18 ecological zones, which reflect a complete vegetation history related to climate change in the middle reach of the Yangtze River during the past 15000 years. On the basis of the correlation ofphytolith records with the paleoclimatic indicators from stalagmite, peatland, North Atlantic deep-sea sediments, Loess Plateau of Central China, and Arabic Sea sediments, eight climatic phases are identified included Last Glacial Maximum （LGM） （20- 14.8 cal kaBP）, Last Deglaciation （LDG） （14.8-11.9 cal kaBP）, low-temperature phase in the Early Holocene （11.9-8 cal kaBP）, Holocene Opti- mum （8-4.9cal kaBP）, Holocene Katathermal （4.9- 1.1 cal kaBP）, Medieval Warmth Period （MWP） （1.1- 0.7 cal kaBP）, Little Ice Age （LIA） （0.7-0.15 cal kaBP）, and Modem Warming （0.15 cal kaBP-present）. Climatic events such as Bolling-Allerod warm intervals, Older Dryas, Inter-Allerod Cold Period, and Younger Dryas, and eight Holocene Bond events （B1-8） have been identified since the LDG. Our results demonstrate that the evolution of the climate in the research area has a strong link with the Indian Summer Monsoon （SW Monsoon）, Asian Summer Monsoon （SE Monsoon）, and Holocene events in North Atlantic simultaneously, which might indicate that solar variability affects the Earth surface climate system at the centennial and millennial scales.

A Study of the Characteristics of the Low-Frequency Circulation over the Tibetan Plateau and its Association with Precipitation in the Yangtze River Valley in 1998

The propagation characteristics of the atmospheric low frequency （LF, 30-60 days） oscillation （LFO） around the Tibetan Plateau from troposphere to stratosphere and its relationship with the floods over the mid-lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the summer of 1998 are studied, based on the GAME dataset from Meteorological Research Institute （MRI）/Japan Meteorological Agency, the TRMM satellite rainfall and the 730-station precipitation over China. The results show that the zonal propagation direction of LFOs in horizontal winds varies with seasons in the troposphere during May to August in 1998. The eastward propagation of LFOs is remarkable before the start of the rainy season in the Tibetan Plateau and the eastern Asian continent, while the westward propagation is significant after the start date. The northward LFOs from the south side of the plateau and the southward LFOs from the north are both significant before and after the start date. The plateau is a LFO sink in the meridional and zonal directions, but the west part of it is an intensifying area for the continual westward LFOs only after the start of the rainy season. Besides, the strongest LFOs occur at the tropopause （100 hPa） and rapidly decay after entering the stratosphere. The rainfall over the mid-low reaches of Yangtze River in the summer of 1998 exhibits two LFO cycles. According to the phases of the two rainfall LFO cycles, the composite analyses of precipitation distribution, LF circulations at 500 and 100 hPa, and LF vertical motion along 30°N are performed. It is the joint effect of the mid-upper tropospheric strong 30-60-day filtered cyclone （anticyclone） over the eastern plateau and the LFO anticyclone （cyclone） over the west subtropical Pacific that induces the whole layer LF descending （ascending） motion over the mid-lower reaches of Yangtze River, which provides the favorable condition for the break （maintenance） of precipitation.

Formation of the Anomalous Summer Precipitation in East China in 2010 and 1998: A Comparison of the Impacts of Two Kinds of El Nio

In the summers of 1998 and 2010, severe floods occurred in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Although an El Nifio event took place preceding each of the summer floods, significant differences between the two summer floods and the two E1 Nifio events were identified. The 1997/98 E1 Nifio is a conventional one with strongest warming in the central-eastern Pacific, whereas the 2009/10 event is an E1 Nifio Modoki with strongest warming in the central Pacific. In this study, summer rainfall anomalies （SRA） in the two years were first compared based on the rainfall data at 160 stations in China's Mainland, and a significant difference in SRA was found. To understand the underlying mechanism for the difference, the atmospheric circulation systems, particularly the western North Pacific anticyclone （WNPAC）, the western Pacific subtropical high （WPSH）, and the low-level air flows, were compared in the two years by using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data. The results display that the WNPAC was stronger in 2010 than in 1998, along with a northwestward shift, causing weakened southwesterly from the Bay of BengM to the South China Sea but intensified southerly in eastern China. This resulted in less water vapor transport from the tropical Indian Ocean and the South China Sea but more from the subtropical western Pacific to East Asia. Subsequently, the rainband in 2010 shifted northward. The difference in the WNPAC was causedby the anomalous ascending motion associated with the warming location in the two E1 Nifio events. ~rthermore, the role of tropical sea surface temperature （SST） in modulating these differences was investigated by conducting sensitivity experiments using GFDL AM2.1 （Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Atmospheric Model）. Two experiments were performed, one with the observed monthly SST and the other with June SST persisting through the whole summer. The results suggest that the model well reproduced the primary differences in the atmospheric circulation systems in the two years. It is found that the difference in E1 Nifio events has shaped the rainfall patterns in the two years of 1998 and 2010. At last, the case of 2010 was compared with the composite of historical E1 Nifio Modoki events, and the results indicate that the impact of E1 Nifio Modoki varies from case to case and is more complicated than previously revealed.